This was my first Lana Ferguson book and all I can say is that I'm officially obsessed with this author! While the book is very steamy, the love and chemistry between the characters was equally off-the-charts. I'll be reading anything and everything she writes going forward.

I don't generally read paranormal books but this was recommended to me. It was actually pretty fun. Mackenzie is funny and has a big personality and Noah was great too. I love fake dating because it always leads to 'oh no real feelings' and this did not disappoint. This was entertaining.

This was a fun time! I really enjoyed the writing, the two main characters (especially Noah, he was the best), and the banter so much!! This was a fun palate cleanser type of book. I personally don’t think shifter romances are my thing so that kind of took away from the story for me with all of the terminology, etc. I also don’t mind spice in a book but once it gets to a certain point I start to become uninterested waiting for the plot to progress so I think this one was a little too spicy for my taste but that’s a me thing! Still an enjoyable book with great characters.

1) Super hot, but whyyyyy do you have wolf shifters with ZERO worldbuilding. WHY. This reads like an all-human omegaverse commonly found in AO3, but the publisher/author decided that they needed a PNR element to justify the ABO dynamics to a mainstream audience. Solution: let’s make them wolves to explain knotting and heat cycles! WHYYYYYYYY. I won’t stop sulking over the wasted potential. They don’t shift into wolves even once! 😭 Like damn, be honest and just publish the all-human version of this book if the alternative is zero expended effort.

2) The “alpha discrimination” bullshit… I’m sorry, is this Zootopia? Do we need to have nonsense portrayals of bigotry in PNR?? I’m here to have a good time, not to roll my eyes at a half-assed, cringe allegory for prejudice.

Read via audio (narrated by Samantha Summers and Joe Arden).

The Fake Mate was the omegaverse romance I never expected to read in traditional publishing. Like, it's not as far as we know the omegaverse can go, but if you're just dipping your *ahem* knot into the genre this is a nice gentle start while still being batshit crazy.

Such a fun and spicy paranormal read! Perfect for fans of omegaverse and fake dating.

Thank you Berkley and Netgalley for my copy.

I tried so hard to like this but it just wasn't my thing. If fake dating and paranormal romance are what you enjoy then I recommend it for you. It was well written, just not what I would actively seek out. Thank you NetGalley for the advanced preview.

I enjoyed this book way better than The Nanny which ended up being a DNF for me. This book was fun, had good banter and chemistry. Spice was good. I did like that the drama wasn’t too over the top and didn’t drag on for the reminder of the book. Firm believer simple communication can solve a lot of problems and glad that this book delivered in that area. I do hope we get more books in this universe as I’m a big fan of shifter books.

🩺🐺 Book Review 🐺🩺

"We fall in love because our hearts don't speak the same language as our brains. Your heart doesn't have that little voice that worries about what-ifs. It sees something good and goes all in."

I had such a great time reading The Fake Mate by @lanafergusonwrites. So glad we picked it as @swoon.studies first read of our Fake Dating intensive!

✔️ Fake Dating
✔️ Coworkers
✔️ Grumpy/Sunshine
✔️ Werewolves
✔️ Alpha/Omega

-summary-
Mackenzie is tired of her grandma setting her up on dates. Noah's alpha status is called into question at work and because mated alphas don't have the same aggressive stigma, he needs a mate. These two coworkers decide to fake date each other to solve both of their problems; new problems arise as their attraction burns super hot, complicating their fake dating deal.

-my thoughts-

I love fake dating in general but adding a touch of paranormal made this trope even more fun.

- Them scenting each other (instead of the usual oh he smells good like sandalwood)
- The extra aggression Noah feels when other males are around his mate
- Her going into heat (reminded me of JR Ward's Lover Awakened | Zsadist's story which was a formative paranormal romance read for me)
- Much ado about knotting (look, it makes sense that sex would be different if they're shifters, right? 😅)

All of this worked to make the typical romance beats a little unexpected. While I could see why so many folks liked The Nanny, I liked this so much more - I loved that it was a little out there (a paranormal romcom! maybe the sexiest magical realism!) and it is one I will definitely remember! 5⭐️

Steam 🔥🔥🔥🔥
Banter 🗣️🗣️🗣️
Swoon 💕💕💕💕

Lana Ferguson again creates such a unique and refreshing story! The fresh take on the shifter trope is fantastic. This story is flirty and caring instead of dark and dangerous.

"The Fake Mate" jumps right in and is easily understandable with clear and straightforward world-building. Mackenzie and Noah have fantastic chemistry, and their romance is super hot, with plenty of emotion. I love how they are both so protective: Mack fights for those she loves, and Noah is self-sacrificing.

I am looking forward to the next book by this author!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing an eARC for review.

This was an extremely spicy shifter book. I rarely read synopsis so i was surprised by the supernatural bent. I more thought it was just a contemporary romance. It was a fun book but not really much to it besides the romance. I would have liked a side plot with one of the friend's or gone deeper into friend's relationships.

This was SOO cute!! A fake dating romance between shifters who are both doctors! I was giggling, blushing and screaming the whole book because it was sooo cute!

Lana Ferguson is an auto buy author for me now! Her writing style is SO easy to follow and her spice is always immaculate. I loved the shifter aspect of this book and how modern Lana made it.

Dr Noah Taylor is my new book boyfriend!

Thanks Berkley for the ARC!

Such a fun steamy read. The fake relationship of it all could have seemed forced but it really seemed so natural for them you couldn’t help but root for them and be on board! All the werewolf lore was fun sometimes silly but all around a fun read

The Fake Mate was exactly what I expected it would be, a relatively predictable, omegaverse rom com. With three popular tropes (Grumpy/ Sunshine, Fake Dating, Work Romance) and playful banter, this book was a fun and steamy read that I struggled to put down.

It stars Mackenzie and Noah as they enter into a mutually beneficial fake relationship that quickly turns into friends with benefits, leading to actual romance. Mac teases Noah endlessly and he quickly goes from a bit of an aloof character to surprisingly sweet and only a tad rough around the edges. They were cute together and I liked their dynamic. The secondary characters however, were underdeveloped and I wish there had been some more plot line with some of the friendships Mac and Noah had.

Ferguson’s world building was lacking, as there were only hints on how a modern society reacts to the existence of shifters. I think including more of these details would have made the story stronger and well-rounded. The primary focus was definitely romance and even the hospital setting felt like a bit of an afterthought.
Overall I enjoyed this book. Was it anything spectacular? No. But I still liked it and will definitely pick up future releases from Ferguson.

Mackenzie "Mack" is sick of her grandmother setting her up on terrible dates so she invents a boyfriend and gives him the name of the first person that comes to mind: Noah, the surly cardiologist at the hospital where she works as a doctor and the next person to walk into the room. When she asks him for a selfie to help seal the deal, he ups the stakes and asks her to be his fake mate. Someone ratted out his "Alpha" wolf-shifter status to the hospital board, and he's worried he'll be seen as a threat without a mate to tame him. Although wolf shifters are now accepted in societies, alphas are still seen as dangerous without mates. Mack agrees, without disclosing her own Omega status, a type of wolf shifter ultra compatible with Alphas. The two begin to fake a relationship, but can't help but fake dating with benefits...

I've never read a shifter romance before, and this was an excellent introduction. Kind of like "shifter-lite," with a cute illustrated cover, doctor leads who are primarily in human form, and nothing too crazy. I did have to look up the author's Instagram and read her "Introduction to the Omegaverse" post so I could understand the alpha-omega tether, which I would recommend other newbies doing. Setting that aside, this was a fabulous book. Perhaps even better than her first, The Nanny. The two leads were interesting characters with interesting jobs that you were really rooting for (to hook up, to fall madly in love, whichever), and the shifter element was a unique twist on your standard contemporary romcom. With recent witchy hits like The Ex Hex and Payback's a Witch, it shouldn't have been a surprise that this is where the genre is heading... lightly speculative contemporary romance all the way!

Thanks to Berkley for my eARC! All thoughts and opinions are my own.

5 stars - 9/10

A paranormal medical romance was definitely going to get my attention and I remember spying one of the author’s earlier releases and being tempted, but couldn’t fit it in. So, I was glad to spot The Fake Mate with a fun romance trope placed into a mash up of medical and hot as a firecracker paranormal romance.

The Fake Mate caught my eye because I do like the fake dating trope as well as grumpy-sunshine romance pair a lot, but also was curious about a paranormal in a medical setting. The hospital setting was background to the romance and character’s werewolf situations, but still had a visible role.

I’ve read plenty of paranormal romance in the last decade, but this was my first ‘omegaverse’ paranormal though I’d seen mention of them about. I point out this interesting tidbit because there are certain elements to this style shifter romance. First of all, there is the obvious that is even mentioned in the blurb of dominance statuses: alpha, omega, and the rest. In Lana Ferguson’s worldbuilding, alphas like Noah and omegas like Mackenzie are the rarer groups. I thought it was a fun premise that he’d been hiding his alpha status so he could be left be to just follow his career and nobody get testy that his furriness would turn into the big bad wolf of the hospital, but also, that Mackenzie was keeping her omega status under wraps because, she, too, would stir up fuss if others knew. In truth, she was so sassy and confident particularly about what she wanted and needed that I could see how she fooled people even Noah when they started up their fake mating arrangement so he could keep practicing at the hospital and she could get her family off her back. His own nature kicked in while he thought he was just faking it and startled him with his possessiveness.

Many times paranormal romances dive into the sexy side faster than the relationship is at developing and The Fake Mate is no exception. I tend to like more slow build, but I go with it for PNR. But, here’s where that omegaverse-style plays in with much of werewolf mating related to heats, scents, and intense need. The steamy sex is augmented by something particular to alpha wolves when mating omegas. In-te-resting…

All in all, it stayed fairly light in tone, reveled in the spicy mating, and was pretty much what I was expecting when I picked it up. I hope the author writes more of her entertaining paranormal romances that I can recommend to others who are into the genre.

KNOTS! I loved this, wow! It exceeded my expectations and I’m so here for the omegaverse. I loved Mackenzie and Noah. The things that would come out of Noah’s mouth and his thoughts about Mackenzie?! It took me out. When I also say this was the STEAMIEST book I’ve read in a while and it was like I needed it. Lena can immerse a love story with such a fun plot and adoring characters. Noah was so precious, was initially propositioned to, and fell first and hard. And I just adored Mackenzie in the hospital setting. Be my doctors! If you love a fake dating story, this one is top-tier for it.

I truly believe this book is something that was in my dreams, come to life. The grovel 🧎🏾‍♀️ the heat scene (heat time off LOL) 🧎🏾‍♀️

The audiobook!! The dual narrators! HELP, so good. I loved listening to the audiobook while reading along.

This book was a different one for me, being that the omegaverse is a newer trope to me. But I really enjoyed it. These two fired up the pages, and I just wanted them to just get together already. That's when I know a book is good , I get impatient with the main characters. The writing, the characters, and the cover were fantastic. I need to go read this authors other books now.

Emoji Summary 👉 👨🏻‍⚕️👩🏼‍⚕️🩺🥸🙊❤️‍🔥🐺🐺☕️🏥🥼🔥

I couldn’t put this down. I stayed up way too late reading it and absolutely obsessed over some of my fave tropes (fake dating, grumpy sunshine).

Some dialogue felt repetitive and unnecessary but otherwise I loved this spicy, spicy romance.

This was so fun! Veryyyyyy steamy 🧖🏻‍♀️ and spicy🌶️! Just how we like it over here 😌 I didn't even know this was about shifters until it started, which is silly because there are literally paws on the covers, but apparently I never noticed them before. Anyway, it adds a little something special, and it makes all the intensity feel like it belongs there more than it would in a normal book, if that makes sense.
I enjoyed the characters, for some reason I really liked that she was obsessed with soup, cuz that's not something I hear a lot 😆